BACHELOR OF BUSINESS ADMINITRATION (HONS)

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS

FACULTY OF BUSINESS AND MANAGEMENT UNIVERSITI

TEKNOLOGI MARA (UITM)

ELC 501
ENGLISH FOR CRITICAL ACADEMIC READING
ARTICLE ANALYSIS – ARGUMENTS AGAINST SCHOLL DRESS
CODE

PREPARED BY:
NUR ‘ATIQAH BINTI MOHD ROSZELI (2021859904)
SHARIFAH NOR ALALI BINTI SYED ABDULLAH (2021498478)
NBI 2A

PREPARED FOR:
SIR GOPIGHANTAN A/L MYLVAGANAM

DATE OF SUBMISSION:
8th JULY 2022
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Praise to God for all the strength given. Finally, we have done our assignment which
is the Article Analysis for Arguments Against School Dress Code . We would like to take this
opportunity to thanks everyone who gave a help and support. Without guidelines from them,
our assignment will not successfully completed.

First of all, we would like to thanks Sir Gopighantan A/L Mylvaganam as one of our
lecturer in this semester especially in English for Critical Academic Reading course for his
commitment, advice and guidelines as well as her invaluable encouragement to us during the
accomplishment process for this report.

Last but not least, we would like to thanks our colleagues for their help and ideas in
completing this report. We felt overwhelmed in all humbleness and gratefulness to Sir
Gopighantan A/L Mylvaganam in evaluating our report with full of consideration.

Thank you.

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 Arguments Against School Dress Codes

By Amy Guertin

In his 1996 State of the Union address, President Clinton called on American schools to
require uniforms to ensure the safety of school children. Although some schools complied
with this suggestion, many schools felt this was too extreme of a measure and began to
implement school dress codes. Unlike uniform policies, which specify what a student has to
wear, school dress codes address what a student cannot wear. There are some
reasons why dress codes are bad for students and staff alike.

Targets Female Students

Dress codes vary widely from district to district. Typical dress codes include a ban on a
variety of things such as leggings, short skirts, t-shirts with vulgar language and bare
midriffs.

Double-Standard
When schools ban specific items like leggings or midriff-baring tops, it sends
a negative message to both genders of the student body. Girls are sometimes told that their
clothing is too distracting and boys can't pay attention. However, this kind of language is
sexist and many anti-dress code advocates point out that it sends a message to the male
student body that they are not solely responsible for their actions.

Disrupting Education
It should also be noted that while the policy may state that any student should be removed
from class if said student violates the dress code, females typically have to leave class to go
home and change whereas males may need to make minor adjustments. For example, a
common item on the school dress code is no baggy pants or vulgar t-shirts. To fix the
violation, a student merely has to pull up his pants or wear his t-shirt inside out. However,
equally common is the ban on leggings. Female students are frequently sent home because to
fix the violation, they have to change. Not only is this embarrassing, but it disrupts her
education.

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Freedom of Speech
Unfortunately, school policies that enforce strict rules for what students should wear also tend
to violate students' freedom of speech. As the ACLU points out, a landmark case dating all
the way back to 1969 actually upholds a students' right to freedom of speech through what a
student chooses to wear.

Limiting Messages
Many school dress codes try to limit the messages that students can send. For example, a
school in Giles, Tennessee told a girl she could not wear a shirt with a pro-LGBT message on
it as it might provoke other students and make her a target. However, limiting what students
can say on their clothing is actually a violation of a student's right to free speech; frequently
the American Civil Liberties Union will step in to help protect a students' rights.

Doesn't Apply to All Codes

Unfortunately, the idea that limiting what a student is allowed to wear, doesn't apply to all
dress code rules. In Albuquerque, courts ruled that sagging jeans are not protected as part of
freedom of speech because sagging jeans do not convey a particular message for a particular
group but rather are a fashion statement.

Freedom of Religious Expression

Tangible symbols of religious expression frequently don't comply with school dress codes.
For example, several students have had to fight for their right to wear a pentagram, the
symbol for the Wiccan religion, to school. Similarly, Nashala Hearn was suspended from
school twice for wearing her hijab, with school officials claiming the hijab did not conform
with dress code policy. While federal policy generally supports freedom of religious
expression in all forms that doesn't necessarily translate to schools. Individuals have a right to
religious expression. However, many symbols of religious expression violate dress codes.
This can put school officials in a difficult position. It also forces to students to fight for a
right and frequently prove their religious affiliation.

Conformity
The goal with many dress codes is to teach students to conform to acceptable
workplace appearance. However, strict dress codes don't teach students to adapt their dress to

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different situations regarding school and work. Students may learn how to dress like everyone
else, but they don't necessarily know how to adapt this knowledge for special
occasions, like interviews, casual meetings, or how to dress appropriately outside of school
and work. A sample dress code even claims to promote and respect the individuality of each
student, but states that it stresses conformity to foster school pride. While there is limited
research on the negative consequences of conformity, at the very least, it could be said
conformity discourages creativity.

Difficult to Enforce
Dress codes are notoriously difficult to enforce, for a variety of reasons. Not only can they be
subjective (ie what one teacher thinks is fine, another teacher thinks is a
violation), but enforcement frequently has a way of upsetting both parents and students.
While some schools can and do enforce dress codes successfully, more often than not,
insisting on dress code policies pits school administrators, and parents and students
against each other. This is particularly true if said policies violate the rights to freedom
of speech or religious expression.

The Negatives Outweigh the Positives

From targeting and harming girls, to violating freedoms of religious expression, school dress
codes can often do more harm than good. They frequently aren't followed,
administration spends a lot of time and effort enforcing them, and when law suits are brought
to court, the schools generally lose.

https://teens.lovetoknow.com/Against_School_Dress_Codes

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ARTICLE ANALYSIS

Based on the article “Arguments against School Dress Codes” the author, Amy
Guertin debated issues on the schools dress codes. Enforcement of schools dress codes is
cause by the required students to wear the uniform at school. Many of school are resist on
school uniform. They would rather implement the school dress codes among the students.
The author’s argument on this topic is negative because the article is debating about the cause
of school dress code does not tackle the students.

The author’s present her reasons by mentioning the students in school become
distracted to keep an eye on their study because of the mistakes in break down a school dress
codes. The basic rules for school dress codes that should comply in all school is, student are
encourage to obey with the rules such as not using a leggings, short skirts or t-shirts with
inappropriate language. Because of this basic rules, there’s double standard abyss between
boys and girls student. The girls always been reminded by the teachers, if the attire is a bit
sexist and it will make boys student lose their focus in class. In this situation, the teachers is
likely to blame female student when the male student can’t pay attention while learning in
class. It’s quite disturbing the progress of education in class for both boy and girl students.
She support this by using an example that they are restricted from entering the classroom and
probably will be force to return to home and change for a better attire. This action will causes
the students left behind on lessons, wasted of time and degrading the students dignity.

Her other reasons by mentioning the justice and freedom of students for voicing out
their opinion. She supports this by using the ACLU organization statement. ACLU is
American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), a non profit organization whose stated mission is
“to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this
country by the Constitution and laws of the United States”. According to ACLU, in 1969, it
become starting points for all student in America in having a rights to voice out their opinion
about their attire guidelines that what they want to wear and for the rules in schools dress
codes the student need to comply with, become things that breach the students
freedom in voiced out their opinion. ACLU also position the right of LGBT people to adopt.
As example, a female student, Tennessee that study at school in Giles, tell that she cannot
wear a shirt that contain message that support the LGBT people. This action is opposite the
right of student in voicing out their opinion. But, the right of student to voicing out their

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opinion of what to wear does not include all of school dress code. For example, in
Albuquerque’s court, sagging jeans is exception from freedom of speech because of its
clothing trends.

Her another reasons by mentioning the right of religious expression from many
student in school. There are different religious beliefs held by students. She support
this by using an observation. For example, for the Wiccan religion, students always argue
with teacher to allow them to wear a pentagram, which oppose to the school dress codes and
become factor for the teacher to not allow it. Another example, Nashala Hearn, a student that
was suspend twice from school because wearing hijab that against the school dress code. But,
she not fully wrong in this situation because the federal policy that give fully choice for
student to express their religious form.

Her last reasons by mentioning the suitable of appearance for adaption in many
occasions. The main objective apply by dress code is to exposure student with
acceptable during workplace appearance. This objective is not accomplished cause by the
student do not know how to apply this knowledge because it hinders the creativity of students
in dressing. Dress code is difficult for all student and parent to follow because of different
perspective. Student think their dress follow the dress code but the teacher thinks otherwise.
So, it become argument from both side.

The author wants to persuade the audience about how many pupils see the school
clothing regulations to be detrimental. Because the author has a disapproving view regarding
pupils adhering to school dress restrictions, the author's tone is prejudiced. Parents, teachers,
and kids are the three target audiences for the author's piece.

In conclusion, the author's reasoning is consistent throughout the piece, where she
discusses the drawbacks of school dress regulations from the beginning to the finish. The
author does not offer any advantages of school clothing regulations. The argument is
unbiased since she backs it up with issues that arise for students who disobey clothing
regulations at school. Because the author persuades the reader of the negative aspects of
school clothing restrictions, the argument has credibility. Because the author solely presents
negative evidence and offers no supporting evidence, the argument is incomplete.

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